Set Photoshop to Thinspiration

[essentialsaltes]

It would be easy to make fun of fatness or cosplay, but I wish to probe the philosophical question:

At what point does a photo of you become not a photo of you?

Here is a retouched photo of me from New Year's.

Comments

Re: Really?!?

[hagdirt.livejournal.com]

Hm. I don't think it's a matter of erasing themselves. At least, not more so than usual.

Looking at the site, the vast majority of the people being retouched are female. I think between the beauty-and-fitness industrial complex, and the constant basing of women's worth on their attractiveness, most women are encouraged to have a very fluid view of their physical appearance. (And, also, an insecure one, natch.) Consider the makeover, the crash diet, the facial. All of these are quick, transformative experiences that are supposed to make us the best "us" we can be. In fact, we are often heavily encouraged to participate in this sort of transformation, and have been since a very young age. (I suspect that straight guys are encouraged against this sort of thing - it's seen as suspicious behavior - but gay guys are certainly all over it.)

So, when the women of cosplay have the opportunity to make themselves look closer to the ideal - in this case, the character they're portraying - this isn't such a big issue. If we're always changing ourselves to look prettier anyway, why is retouching a blow to the psyche?